US media praises Pakistani female footballer for her social work amid COVID-19 pandemic

A 23-year old footballer, Karishma Ali, is winning praise for the exemplary social work she has been doing in her hometown in Chitral Valley. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown had badly affected the lives of the people in the area.

Ali is the first girl from her area to have played football at a national and international level. Last year she was also listed among Forbes’ ’30 Under 30′ in Asia, along with the tennis star Naomi Osaka and K-pop band Black pink.

After being admired for her football talent, Ali has been profiled by CNN for her selfless philanthropy work in her area.

According to the report, when the COVID-19 pandemic handicapped the lives of many, Ali would spend hours driving on bouncy, mountainous roads with her father and uncle distributing essential supplies to the local hospital and underprivileged villagers. She raised money via social media to buy those items.

“As of August, they had supplied one month’s worth of rations to 300 families and donated 155 N95 masks, 53 goggles, 250 PPE suits, 650 surgical masks, 400 pairs of surgical gloves and 76 face shields to the DHQ Hospital Chitral,” the report stated.

Ali, while discussing how things changed in her area when the lockdown was imposed, said: “The men work as daily wage laborers in different cities in Pakistan and what happened after the lockdown, many industries and businesses shut down, they had to return home, and people were finding it difficult, a lot of families were in need.”

The footballer hopes to empower women through education and skills. Sharing her dreams and futures plans, Ali said, “Ten years from now I want to see at least 10-20 more girls like myself who come back here [Chitral] after they’ve achieved their dream and work for the other girls that I was not able to reach out to and, slowly, I see a progressive society where men and women are working equally, where women do not have to stress about traditional customs and be able to freely do what they can and see that I was part of all of this change.”

“I want to see more women in leadership positions and then sit back and enjoy. This is what I wanted to fight for,” she added.

Ali has represented Pakistan at the Jubilee Games in Dubai. Her team was the first women’s team from Pakistan to participate in the AFL International Cup. Ali is also the founder of the Chitral Women’s Sports Club.